Memories of the Night
by Thief of Black Winged Hearts
Summary: Rukia dreams of the night Kaien died, and Ichigo is there to comfert her. ICHIRUKI! Well, kinda. One-shot


Hi people! Sorry it's been a while since I put anything out there, but I've been working on other projects. (screams) DON'T HURT ME!!!

Anyway, this is a one-shot I wrote in my spare time. I have a question; why does inspiration always have to strike past 9:00 PM? If anyone knows the answer to that one, let me know, cause it's a pain in the butt to wait for my parents to drop off before I can start writing. Also, this is my first Bleach-centric fanfic, so if I mangled the spelling on the Japanese terms, then I'm really sorry. I can't even spell in English! THANK GOD FOR SPELL-CHECK!!!

Ichiruki. Duh.

BTW, this is dedicated to rukiachan15, whose just starting out in the business, but is an awesome writer and a total Bleach nut.

I don't own any of this, CAUSE I'M NOT FREAKING JAPANESE!!! Only the Japanese are cool enough to own Bleach.

Memories of the Night

_The night was black. Black pooled between the rain swept trees and covered the saturated ground. Black like the emptiness of his eyes. Black like the emptiness of her soul. She could feel black, it was raining black, she was drowning in black .Black was predominant on this night, along with red. Red for blood. _

_Her eyes focused on her hands. They gripped Sode na Shirayuki's hilt, which was the most beautiful zanpakto in the entire Soul Society. Tonight, though, the hilt was slick with blood, the blood that poured out of _his_ body, blood that had once run through _his_veins. Tonight, Sode na Shirayuki had broken two hearts, the one who's heart laid his lifeblood on the ground, and the heart of the one who did the slaying. Crimson tears, bloody tears. That was all that would be left when this night passed on. And whose fault was it? No one could have shifted the blame from her at this moment. When this night was done, it would be the only thing that she would have left of _him.

_His body was spent, slumped against the shoulder of the girl. His head rested just next to her ear, so that she could not catch one last glimpse of his face. But after this, did she even deserve that much? Probably not. If this was the start of atonement, she would gladly pay the price. _

"_Rukia" he whispered. The voice of a dying man's last breath. Even if they were shinigami, it didn't stop anything when the final sleep called for you. It didn't count for anything at all. _

"_Oh, Kaien," she whispered, "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."_

"_No," Kaien said forcefully," It had to be done. There was no other way. At least now, I can die in the Seriete with my beloved wife. I am not sorry for anything." She felt tears come to her eyes. How could he so forgiving? Even thought it was by her cowardice he had come to be mortally wounded, he still put no blame on her shoulders. But she did. She put all the blame on her shoulders. Right where it belonged. "How could I be sorry for anything?" he asked her. Something was off. His voice was changing. "The night I first met you, you saved my life. You gave me the power to help people. This isn't your fault, midget, so don't you dare go blaming yourself. This was my choice to make, damn it!" Rukia's blood froze. She knew that voice, and it was not Kaien Shiba's. It was a voice she had heard in the human world, one she had grown accustomed to over a long and exciting month. One she heard every day. And now, they were on a familiar street instead of in a dark forest. "And this is what I choose," he whispered. With a tremendous burst of strength, she lifted the heavy body off her shoulder and looked into the bloodstained face of Ichigo Kurosaki. His eyes burned into hers. "I choose for you to live," he breathed, his eyes closing for the last time, collapsing onto the sidewalk. His blood stained the rain-soaked sidewalk, and it was Senbonzakura sheathed in his back. And the black rain fell, covering the Earth in a wave of darkness, bathing the land in blood and death. _

"NOOO!" Rukia screamed, jerking upright. She panted, gazing around in fright. She was in Ichigo's closet, where she'd slept every night for the past month. Rukia curled up in a ball, crying silent tears. _It was just a dream, it was just a dream, it was just a dream…_she kept telling herself as she trembled and shook and fought with her fear. Nightmares like this had often plagued her after Kaien's death, but never before had Ichigo died in her dreams. Pain lanced through her, shocking her with the strength of the emotion. She felt like she was being torn asunder by a massive storm, ripped to pieces until she ceased to exist. She breathed harder as the tears ran down her face.

Silently, the closet door slid open, and suddenly she was being held in a strong pair of arms. It made her feel so safe, just like that, as if those arms protected her from the hurricane that raged inside her. "Shhhh," said Ichigo softly, "It's ok, Rukia. You're safe. I'll be right here as long as you need me." Something broke inside Rukia, a barrier that had never been broken before, and she cried in his arms until she was completely empty of tears. He just let her sob against his chest, and he ran his hands through her hair and told her that she'd be alright. After a while, Rukia came to her senses enough to be embarrassed about the way she was acting. She was a Kuchki, and Kuchki's weren't supposed to act like that!

"Sorry," she muttered, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand. He said nothing for a moment gazing off into the distance.

"When my mother died," he said slowly, "I cried every night for the first month. You see, it had always been my mom who tucked me in at night. So every night, I always hoped that she'd somehow be there to tuck me in and tell me how much she loved me…" Ichigo broke off, still gazing into the distance. Then he looked back at Rukia. "I know that you probably don't want to talk about it, but when you're ready, I promise you I'll be there fro you. Ok?"

Rukia smiled, a shaky smile, but still a smile. "Ok," she whispered. He let her go, and she crawled back into her bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. She hesitated, the said softly, "Goodnight, Ichigo."

He smiled that crooked smirk of his, then said softly, "Goodnight, you bunny loving midget." But Rukia was already fast asleep, and did not hear him.

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